You'll Be In My Heart
by Swagiana Grande
Summary: When Cat's dad starts abusing her, she turns to Jade for help. The one-time visit soon turns into a routine, and Jade welcomes her best friend with open arms. But will Jade be able to keep Cat safe? And what if one of them wants to be more than just friends? / Cade multi-chaptered songfic to "You'll Be In My Heart" from Tarzan. :) Review if you please! xoxo
1. Chapter 1

**A/N Hey everybody! :) I'm currently obsessed with this song (it makes me cry every time I listen to it...don't ask), and thought that it'd go pretty well with a Cade fic. This was originally gonna be a one-shot, but it ended up being waaaay too long. So now it's a multi-chapter. Hope you enjoy, and please review! xoxo**

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_**Come stop your crying. It will be alright. Just take my hand. Hold it tight. I will protect you from all around you. I will be here. Don't you cry.**_

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Fifteen-year-old Jade West was awoken suddenly from her nap by a faint knock on the front door. She groaned, dragging herself out of bed, clearly in no hurry to answer whoever was bothering her while she was trying to get some rest. She trudged down the double staircase, headed towards the front of her house, as the light tapping on the door persisted. "I'm coming," she said loudly, irritated. She finally reached the door, and proceeded to jerk it open angrily. "What!?" she asked with a huff, but her once-angered facial expression changed to a look of confusion at the sight of Cat Valentine, her best friend, standing on the front porch with tears streaming down her face.

The usually-tan girl looked a lot paler than what seemed to be normal for her, and her mascara and eyeliner were rubbed all over the place, causing her cheeks to be a mess of make-up and tears. Jade didn't know what was wrong, but she began to feel pity (something that didn't come often for her) on the small girl, and quickly pulled her inside the house. "What the hell is the matter with you?" she questioned, not in a mean way, but in a genuinely curious and somewhat nosy way.

Cat continued to sob, shaking her head and looking at the ground. Jade sighed. "Well you're not leaving this house until you tell me what happened," Jade said softly but sternly. The petite girl nodded in understanding, wrapping her arms around herself as her tears kept falling.

Jade let out yet another sigh at her overly sensitive friend, but decided that she should help her. She grabbed Cat's hand and lightly dragged her into the bathroom. "Your face is a mess," the gothic girl said bluntly. She picked up a dark washcloth from the small stack of towels on the shelf next to the sink, running it under warm water for a few seconds before gently placing it on Cat's cheek and beginning to rub her soft skin in small circles. She eventually moved the fabric to her forehead, then across her eyelids, down her nose, and all around her mouth and chin, brushing away the uneven make-up.

Cat stayed still while her friend washed her (something she was rarely capable of doing), and her tears began to slow down. Once Jade was finished with her job, she took a step back to look at the red head. "You look much prettier without it anyways," she said matter-of-factly.

Cat tried to smile, but couldn't really seem to remember how. So she daintily stretched out one of her arms and gently took hold of Jade's hand, before bringing it to her lips and pressing a soft kiss to it. Jade would've been a little taken aback if she hadn't been used to Cat's usual characteristic of being a touchy-feely person, and she even gave the girl a slight smile, glad to see that Cat wasn't totally different from her normal self.

Jade plopped down on the tile floor, motioning for Cat to come sit down beside her. The brown-eyed beauty slowly crouched down and arranged herself so that she was sitting Indian style without saying a word. Jade tilted her head a little, observing the petite girl staring back at her. She obviously wasn't going to say anything if she didn't need to, so Jade decided to speak first. "Please tell me what's wrong, Cat," the brunette pleaded softly. Jade hated begging; but it seemed to be the only way that she could get Cat to respond.

Cat sighed, looking at the floor. She traced the cream-colored squares with her small, perfectly polished finger before lifting her head up to look at Jade. Her voice cracked a little as she spoke for the first time that night. "Daddy was yelling at me again. He said I was a bad girl."

Jade rolled her eyes a little. "Cat, we've had this conversation a million times. You need to stop listening to what your da-"

The smaller girl interrupted her by lifting up her shirt, revealing a large bruise extending all across her tummy, then looked down at the floor again in shame.

Jade's jaw dropped. She had always known that Cat and her dad didn't exactly get along, and that her father often called her untrue, hurtful names. Which was wrong, yes. But nothing like this. "Cat, I…" she trailed off, not being able to find the right words. She genuinely frowned as she saw a few of her friend's teardrops hit the floor, making small little puddles on the tile.

The amount of hurt that Jade was feeling for Cat at that moment was shocking even to her, and she just couldn't help but pull the weeping girl into her lap, stroking her hair and gently rocking her to and fro, trying as hard as she could to get her to stop crying.

But the sobbing didn't cease, and in between whimpers of pure sadness and fear, Cat was able to spit out, "Why would he do this to me?" Jade sighed, squinting her eyes shut in an attempt to keep herself from crying.

"I don't know, baby girl," she whispered against her friend's vibrant hair. Jade was somewhat surprised that she hadn't sprinted out the door by now to go find Cat's father and kill him, considering that she usually resulted to violence to handle things. But she was sure that Cat had had more than enough of that for one day.

The two teenagers stayed there on the bathroom floor for at least another half hour, Cat bawling her eyes out and Jade trying with all of her might to get her to stop. It wasn't until she placed a soft kiss on Cat's forehead that her crying stopped…even if it was just for a moment.

Jade could've sworn that she heard Cat gasp a little when her lips touched her skin, which confused her immensely. But it was certainly preferable to seeing her best friend cry, so she did it again. And again. And before she knew it, Cat's tears had gone away almost completely.

**A/N So how was it? :) I think what I'll do is go through one line of the song for each chapter, minus the first two choruses. I'll save that for last. Reviews are greatly appreciated! :) #CadeFTW xoxo**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N Alrighty, here's the next chapter! :) Hope you enjoy. xoxo**

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_**For one so small, you seemed so strong. My arms will hold you, keep you safe and warm. This bond between us can't be broken. I will be here. Don't you cry.**_

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A few months had passed, and Cat's family situation hadn't gotten much better. Practically every other day, she would walk to Jade's house to cry in her best friend's arms. It had gotten to the point where Jade expected her arrival, and would prepare movies to watch and games to play in an attempt to get Cat's mind off of things.

Tonight was one of those nights. The little redhead had texted her friend earlier to let her know that she was coming over, and Jade was currently popping The Little Mermaid, one of Cat's all-time-favorite films, into the DVD player.

Her clicking of buttons was interrupted by a light tapping on the door. She sighed, biting her lip, not at all looking forward to the sight of her best friend with tears all over her face again. But when she answered the door, she was pleasantly surprised to see a one hundred percent tear-free Cat. "Hiiiii!" the petite girl said in a sing-song voice.

Jade squinted her eyes and awkwardly lifted her hand to give a half-hearted wave, very confused. Cat noticed her friend's puzzled facial expression and felt the need to say something. "Nothing bad happened… I just wanted to come over…" she said softly, looking at the ground and blushing a little.

The brunette sighed, although deep down she was thankful that Cat was there, and even more thankful that she was unharmed for once. "Well come inside, then," she said as she grabbed Cat's hand and pulled her through the doorway so that they were both inside the house.

Cat followed Jade's footsteps into the kitchen, flinching as the taller girl threw a can of soda to (more like _at_) her. She flipped open the metal lid, hands shivering a little at the feeling of the cold metal touching them. She looked up at her friend expectantly, waiting for her to say something. When Jade didn't speak, Cat decided to. "Are you mad at me…?" she almost-whispered, somewhat afraid of what the other girl's response would be.

"No, Cat. I'm not mad at you," Jade replied with a small sigh. "It's just that I got a movie ready, and I had my bed all made for you to sleep over tonight, and it was all for nothing," she said in an annoyed tone.

Cat pouted and walked over to Jade, wrapping her arms gently around the teen and looking up at her with her gorgeous brown eyes. "I'm sorry…" she said genuinely. Jade didn't make eye contact, obviously struggling with whether or not to forgive her friend. "We can still watch the movie if you want," she added. "And I was planning on sleeping over anyways."

Jade rolled her eyes, but gave in. "Fine," she muttered as she placed her arms around Cat, returning the hug.

Cat squealed a little, jumping up and down. "Yay!" she said cheerily. "Thank you, Jadey!" she added gratefully, spontaneously placing a soft kiss on the pale girl's cheek.

Jade's eyes went wide for but a moment, before giving an unenthusiastic "Yeah, yeah." The two girls walked over to the living room, Cat grabbing a pillow and flopping down on the couch, and Jade heading over to the DVD player to start the movie.

"Which one are we watching this time?" Cat asked with a smile on her face. But before Jade could answer her question, the opening scene began to play, and Cat squealed in delight. Jade chuckled a little at her friend's childishness, and then carefully sat down beside Cat. The bright-eyed girl quickly snuggled up to her friend, eyes never leaving the television screen. Jade smirked a little bit, but placed her arm around Cat nonetheless, secretly thrilled to be spending time with her.

Time passed by quickly, and once the movie was over, Cat's eyes were shimmering with tears that looked ready to fall at any moment. Jade looked at Cat perplexedly for the second time that night. "Why are you crying?" she asked, a bit aggravated over how little sense Cat was making tonight.

Cat turned away, embarrassed that she had been caught. "I'm not crying!" she protested. But her words were quickly followed by a small sniffle, causing Jade to roll her eyes.

Jade placed her hand on the petite girl's shoulder, spinning her around and giving her that don't-lie-to-me look that usually only comes from mothers. Cat sighed dramatically, but complied. "It's just that… I find it really sad how no one approves of Princess Ariel and Prince Eric's relationship."

The gothic girl wrinkled her nose. "That's all?" she asked, quite surprised. She had been expecting some big disaster to be the source of Cat's tears.

The red-velvet-haired girl looked down at her hands and nodded sheepishly, clearly humiliated by Jade's lack of understanding. Jade apparently noticed this, and felt a little guilty for hurting her friend's feelings. "But Cat, there's a happy ending," she said in an attempt to cheer her up.

A soft sigh came out of Cat's mouth before she spoke. "That's true," she said quietly, the large tears threatening to fall again. "But it's just not fair. Why do people have to be so mean?"

Jade pursed her lips together and thought about this for a moment, but was unable to come up with an answer. "Cat, let's just play a game or something," she finally said, trying to change the subject.

Cat's seriousness vanished shockingly quickly at those words. "Kaykay!" she said happily. "How 'bout truth or dare?" she requested with a grin. Jade shrugged in agreement. "You can give one to me first," Cat offered. "I choose dare."

Barely a second passed before Jade was able to come up with a challenge for her friend. "I dare you to go drink from the toilet," she said with an evil grin.

"Ewwwww! Jadey, no!" Cat shrieked, a disgusted look on her face.

"Ugh, you're no fun," Jade said while rolling her eyes, irritation apparent on her face. "Ummm, who do you like?" she asked, not appearing to be very interested in the answer.

Cat's eyes grew wide, and she let out a little squeak, hiding behind her knees. "What are you doing?" Jade huffed. Her only answer was Cat quickly shaking her head. "Suit yourself…" she trailed off. "But you know, you have to come out at some point," she added after a minute or two passed and she still couldn't see her scared little friend's face.

Eventually, Cat was able to gather up enough courage to peek her head out from behind the safety of her knees, but darted right back to her hiding spot when she came face-to-face with Jade's cold expression. "Caaaat, you're being absurd," Jade whined. "It's not that big of a deal. Just tell me who you like."

The redhead sighed, lifting her head and unclasping her hands from around her legs. She licked her lips and furrowed her brows before speaking. "Promise not to be mad?" she said softly.

"For the love of God, Cat. Just spit it out!" Jade shouted.

Cat cringed a little at the girl's harshness, but obeyed her anyways. "You…" Cat whispered.

It was barely audible, and Jade was certain that she hadn't heard her friend right. "What was that?" she asked, persuading Cat to speak up.

"I like you," Cat repeated, this time with a bit more confidence.

Jade didn't know what to think. She wasn't exactly surprised. When you spend so much time with someone, you're bound to fall for them at some point. She wasn't sure if she felt the same way or not, but she wasn't about to make Cat's life even more miserable than it already was. So with a small smile, she replied, "I uh… I like you too." It wasn't a total lie. She did like her. She just wasn't sure to what extent.

Cat's timid facial expression instantly turned to one of pure joy, and she all but pounced on Jade in her excitement, emitting a squeal of glee, as her friend smirked a bit at her enthusiasm. "Now we can be girlfriends!" Cat said happily, a huge smile on her face, and her eyes as bright as the sun.

Jade thought about it for a moment, then smiled, liking the idea. "Yeah… I guess we can." Cat looked at her friend (now her _girl_friend) happily before leaning in and planting a sweet kiss on Jade's luscious, pink lips. Not much that Cat did surprised the brunette girl these days, and she gladly kissed back.

When it was finally time for bed, the two girls snuggled up to one another under the warm blankets. "Promise to protect me, Jadey?" the smaller one whispered softly.

Hardly a second passed before Jade's response came. "Always."

**A/N Sorry if it wasn't all that great. I was multitasking. ;P Also, this would've been up last night, but I got reallyyyy distracted with Ari & Liz & Frankie & Zach's live chat. :3 Please review! xoxo**


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